Mark Burnham switched teams mid-season when he accepted the position of MSU's associate vice president of governmental affairs Tuesday. Burnham, who holds a similar position with the University of Michigan, will start work in Washington, D.C., on April 1. "He's awesome," said Steve Webster, MSU's vice president for governmental affairs, of Burnham.
A green refugee tent flapped in a frigid March breeze Monday afternoon outside the Auditorium. The tent was constructed by members of Spartans Taking Action Now: Darfur, or STAND, to illustrate the home of one of the 2.5 million displaced Sudanese refugees. About five members of STAND gathered near the tent to spread awareness of genocide in Darfur, Sudan, through a postcard-writing campaign. The campaign, Million Voices for Darfur, is a national movement organized by The Save Darfur Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based alliance that aims to raise awareness about the Darfur situation. The coalition's goal is to deliver 1 million postcards to President Bush urging him to push for a larger movement to protect the people of Darfur. "A lot of people stop and talk," STAND President Lindsey Hutchison said.
By Jessica Sipperley For The State News The students who work at WDBM (88.9-FM), also known as the Impact, are seeing gold — for the sixth time. For the sixth time in seven years, the station was named the college radio station of the year by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters and Broadcast Music Inc. The award was presented March 14 at the Great Lakes Broadcasting Conference at the Lansing Center. General manager Gary Reid said the award, which is presented as a gold record, is a product of collaboration among staff members who submit the radio station's best work for judging. "Because we've won for so many years, it's become something every staff strives for," Reid said.
By Liz Kersjes For The State News Free gourmet coffee is hard to resist. Area Beaner's coffee shops, in association with MSU, are offering a free coffee tasting event known as a "cupping" with coffees from around the world this week. This event is designed to give students and area residents a hands-on learning experience about the new fair trade trend in the coffee industry, said Allison Campbell, an international relations sophomore who initiated the event. "The focus of this event is to raise awareness about the success of fair trade, and why it's successful worldwide," she said.
By the end of the night, downtown East Lansing could be roughly twice the size it was this morning. The downtown district currently stretches from Valley Court Park to Collingwood Drive.
The MSU chapter of the Phi Beta Delta honorary society was recently awarded both outstanding Midwest chapter and outstanding national chapter for its achievements and efforts in programming, chapter growth and community outreach. The honorary society is composed of students, faculty and staff who have academic experience abroad and is dedicated to promoting international education on campus. "When you look in terms of what's happening, you would be alienated in terms of your own existence if you're not aware of what's happening globally," said Charles Gliozzo, an MSU professor and member of the MSU chapter of Phi Beta Delta. Representatives from the chapter will accept the awards at the Phi Beta Delta national conference in San Diego on Thursday. "Since (members) are so dedicated, it's a testimonial to the work they've been doing for many years," Gliozzo said.
Abortion providers must give a woman the option to see ultrasound images of her fetus before an abortion, after Gov.
A 19-year-old MSU student was charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct on Friday. Mark Miller faces 15 years in prison if convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, which involves penetration with force or coercion. He is scheduled for a preliminary exam on March 31 at East Lansing's 54-B District Court.
For Crystal Recollet, powwows are a family affair. The 24-year-old said she's danced in powwows for as long as she can remember, but this is her first year at MSU's Pow-Wow of Love. Recollet crafted a yellow-beaded headband for her friend's son as she explained her family's involvement with powwows. "My sister's here, my cousin's here, my nephew's here," she said.
By Toshira Johnson For The State News A hushed "awww" escaped the lips of the crowd as nearly a dozen dancers, ranging in age from 9 to 60, took the stage, the subtle tapping of their handcrafted white-leather metallic boots filling the Auditorium. Claps of approval rang throughout the Auditorium as they performed the quick steps and fancy footwork of a traditional dance of Guerrero, Mexico.
After more than 25 years in prison, including time spent with Nelson Mandela, Ahmed Kathrada emerged to become a beloved political figure in post-apartheid South Africa. On Sunday, he came to MSU to talk about his experiences as a political prisoner and to sign copies of his latest book, "Memoirs." His first work, "Letters from Robben Island," was published by MSU Press in 1999. Speaking about the almost total isolation in which the prisoners were kept, Kathrada shared the story of the night he and his fellow prisoners were informed of their imminent release in October 1989. "That Saturday night, they came to our cell and said they had just received a fax from prison headquarters saying we were going to go free," Kathrada said.
Debate has yet to cease about the 12 Danish cartoons that depicted the Muslim prophet Muhammad in a derogatory manner. Students, residents and media took their shoes off in the entrance of the Islamic Center of Greater Lansing on Saturday afternoon and took a seat to hear the perspectives of six scholars. The cartoons, which were published last month, have ignited protests and caused about 50 deaths throughout the world. Farhan Abdul Azeez, president of the Muslim Students' Association, said the tension of the cartoons will end only after people are educated about other faiths, adding that events like having the speakers at the center will help make the public more aware of that. "We need to turn this negative into a positive by educating people," Azeez said.
The spring runways all followed the same trends: pretty sundresses, formal gowns, sporty athletic gear and avant garde one-of-a-kind ensembles. But in Lansing's Old Town on Sunday, the models were a little more concerned with sniffing each other than primping in front of the mirror. Gone 2 the Dogs held its first fashion show in Creole Gallery, 1218 Turner St., featuring 15 pups.
Eleven state universities would see a funding increase of less than 2 percent this fall under a Republican proposal approved Wednesday by a Senate panel. The legislation — covering universities in the budget year that starts Oct.
The Big Easy needs your help. I didn't know to what extent that was true until I went down to New Orleans and saw it for myself. MSU's Alternative Spring Break sent 23 people there, including myself, to gut three houses severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina. When the storm hit last August, homes were flooded, destroyed and washed away.
Catholics can celebrate St. Patrick's Day with Irish stew and corned beef hash today without breaking the Lenten tradition of not eating meat on Fridays. Bishop Carl Mengeling, of the Diocese of Lansing, announced that Catholics could eat meat on St.
A new academic center on campus is a place for students in four different medical disciplines to practice the same basic clinical abilities — from communicating with a patient to gathering data and documenting their experiences. The Learning and Assessment Center, a collaborative project of the colleges of Veterinary Medicine, Human Medicine, Nursing and Osteopathic Medicine, opened for business Thursday in Fee Hall. The new center offers a number of practice rooms loaded with equipment to allow students to practice the skills they will use in their future medical careers. Some labs, such as the simulation laboratory, have an array of "partial task trainers," or plastic models of body parts where students can practice inserting IVs, performing spinal taps and administering injections to joints. The "Sim Man" room is completely outfitted like a modern emergency room, which features a lifelike, computer-controlled mannequin that can be programmed to simulate a variety of symptoms and conditions, including a full heart attack. The center's director, Ruth Hoppe, said another important aspect of the center is its evaluation function. "It allows us to assess whether our students are ready to go into a real patient setting," Hoppe said. "This makes us more accountable to the community as well, because we know our students are not only knowledgeable, but able to perform the necessary tasks." College of Human Medicine Dean Marsha Rappley said the partnership between the four schools is a unique one in the nation. "It allows for an interdisciplinary team-learning model that is so critical in health care," Rappley said. "This is a critical resource for our students who will apply this knowledge soon in practice." Nursing junior Markia Jones was on hand for the grand opening to help demonstrate some of the training simulations that will take place in the center. She said the opportunity to practice in the lab environment was good because of how nervous most students feel when they go into the real world of hospital work. "It's great because you're more familiar with the skill that you get checked off in the lab," Jones said.